'Repugnant' burglar stole thousands from elderly woman and her terminally ill daughter

A 'repugnant' criminal who mercilessly targeted vulnerable elderly people was starting a six-year jail term today.

John McDonald stole thousands of pounds from an 85-year-old woman and her daughter, aged 62, who was terminally ill with cancer, a judge heard.

Less than a month later the 44-year-old tricked a man aged 86 into handing over £450 cash by claiming to have been sent to smarten up the garden. The defendant took the money but did no work, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

He was on the run after failing to appear at court to be dealt with for conning a 98-year-old woman into believing he had done £300 worth of repairs to the roof of her Sutton Coldfield home.

Arrest

McDonald was arrested when police - alerted by suspicious neighbours - arrived on the scene before the money was handed over on March 2 2015.

McDonald pushed a woman police officer against a wall, causing minor injury, in an unsuccessfully bid to flee from the scene.

He was bailed but failed to appear at Birmingham Crown Court to face charges of fraud and assault on June 29 2015.

A warrant was issued for his arrest but he was still missing when his co accused were tried and convicted in January of the following year.

Fence fix

On November 14 2017 he walked into the Farm Road, Brierley Hill home of the 85-year-old woman and her cancer sufferer daughter through an unlocked rear door and appeared in the kitchen at 9am, explained Mr Rupert Jones, prosecuting.

The defendant told the older woman there was a big hole in her fence which he could fix.

She went to get money to pay him and he saw her taking £25 from an envelope that held £3,000 saved to pay for her sister's funeral.

McDonald told her to go upstairs and open a window and while she was out of sight took all the money from the envelope and emptied her two purses. Sadly the victim did not live long enough to see him locked up.

Then the 86-year-old man was swindled out of £480 by the defendant on December 7 2017 for work on the garden of his Hough Place, Walsall home that never took place.

McDonald from Booth Street, Blakenhall, who had previous convictions for similar offences, was finally arrested on February 28 last year.

He pleaded guilty to the two burglaries but was found guilty of fraud and assaulting the Pc on January 3 this year.

Repugnant

Mr Devon Small, defending the father of four, claimed: "He is quite determined to ensure these are the last offences he faces in court."

McDonald was jailed by Judge Barry Berlin who told him: "You have mercilessly targeted vulnerable, elderly people. Such offending is repugnant to right thinking members of the public."

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Sean Lowe, described McDonald as a 'merciless' thief who thought nothing of preying on elderly, vulnerable victims.

He added: "He deliberately targeted vulnerable residents, ones he believed would fall for his lies and be trusting enough to let him into their homes."